Mumbai

Marketbenchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended flat on Friday, a day after registering a rebound, as elevated crude oil prices induced by geopolitical uncertainties and a sharp fall in the US markets made investors cautious.

In a largely range-bound trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended almost unchanged from the previous close at 77,540.83, up 3.11 points. During the day, it hit a high of 77,725.67 and a low of 77,445.86, gyrating 279.81 points. The 50-share NSE Nifty also ended flat, up 20.15 points, or 0.08 per cent, at 24,252.

A rebound in US Treasury yields and persistently elevated crude oil prices discouraged investors from taking aggressive directional positions, an expert said. “Indian equity benchmarks ended a choppy Friday session largely unchanged, as investors defended Thursday’s recovery but showed little conviction to push the market decisively higher. “Investor sentiment remained cautious heading into the weekend as a rebound in US Treasury yields and persistently elevated crude oil prices discouraged investors from taking aggressive directional positions,” Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, Founder & CEO of HST Wealth, a Research Analyst firm, said.

The continuing standoff between the United States and Iran has kept geopolitical risk firmly embedded in energy markets, leaving oil prices at levels that remain uncomfortable for a major importing economy such as India, Radhakrishnan added. “The renewed rise in US bond yields has added another layer of uncertainty, despite the Treasury’s expanded debt-buyback programme,” he said.

Among the Sensex firms, Power Grid, Bharat Electronics, Kotak Mahindra Bank, NTPC, Bajaj Finserv and Asian Paints were the biggest winners. Trent, Maruti, InterGlobe Aviation and HCL Tech were among the laggards. The BSE SmallCap Select index climbed 0.81 per cent and the MidCap Select index was up 0.39 per cent. Among sectoral indices, Insurance climbed 0.94 per cent, Utilities 0.69 per cent, MidSmall Private Banks Quality Tilt 0.68 per cent, MidSmall Private Banks 0.65 per cent, Power 0.64 per cent, Financial Services 0.33 per cent and Telecommunication 0.21 per cent. Auto dropped 0.68 per cent, Housing Finance 0.61 per cent, Hospitals 0.50 per cent, Focused IT 0.47 per cent, IT 0.42 per cent and Healthcare 0.33 per cent. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 583.36 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

“The elevated global bond yields continue to cause worry in the market. The recent US Treasury’s move to ease the bond yields failed to provide lasting comfort, given surging crude prices and persistent inflation fears,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

On the weekly front, the BSE benchmark declined 468.42 points, or 0.60 per cent, and the Nifty dipped 114 points, or 0.46 per cent. On Thursday, the Sensex jumped 628.04 points, or 0.82 per cent, to settle at 77,537.72 after four days of decline. The Nifty also bounced back after seven days of losses. It ended at 24,231.85, up 153.55 points, or 0.64 per cent.